This deluxe catalogue featuring Islamic ceramics from the al-Sabah Collection in Kuwait is a welcome addition to the literature on the subject. Although a few catalogues of Islamic ceramics collections have been published in the twenty-first century (for example, Géza Fehérvári’s Ceramics of the Islamic World in the Tareq Rajab Museum, London: I.B.Tauris, 2000), the exceptional quality and range of the al-Sabah collection set it apart. In the introductory chapters of Ceramics from Islamic Lands, Oliver Watson broaches questions that other cataloguers of private collections might have avoided, namely fashions in collecting, the gulf between the types of Islamic ceramics acquired by museums and collectors and those excavated by archaeologists, and the pro-Persian, anti-Arab bias in scholarship and collecting in the twentieth century. While specialists would certainly be aware of the ratio of plain to fine wares at excavation sites, this information is rarely articulated; thus, people new to the subject often have a skewed understanding of the context and rarity of fine pottery from the Islamic world. On this matter as well as others, Watson’s book brings the reader up to date with recent trends in the study of Islamic ceramics and some, though not all, of the recent literature. He invokes Arthur Lane, author of the two most influential books on Islamic ceramics, Early Islamic Pottery (London: Faber & Faber, 1947) and Later Islamic Pottery (London: Faber & Faber, 1957), pointing out where Lane has been superseded by recent scholarship. These observations will be very useful, since Lane’s books have served almost as textbooks for generations of students and collectors.

Before turning to a general history of Islamic ceramics, Watson devotes two chapters to production and technique. Here again, his explanations are succinct and clear, and will provide a good basis for anyone wishing to delve more deeply into the subject. His historical chapters include more mention than is usually given to ceramics from the western Islamic world, such as Spanish pottery from Madina al-Zahra or Tunisian pottery of the Aghlabid and early Fatimid periods. A rather tricky area of discussion surrounds the identification of production sites. Watson made his name by proposing Kashan as the single production site of Iranian lusterware in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries, and not surprisingly he maintains this position in his book. Yet, in his discussion of Syrian fritwares of the same period, he points out the absence of signed and dated pieces that would indicate a place of manufacture thus enabling him to assign the whole group of Syrian lusterwares, including those of the “Tell Minis” type, to Raqqa. Although he may be correct in positing the flight of lustre potters from Raqqa to Damascus in 1259, following the Mongol invasions, an important lusterware vase with an inscription saying it was made in Damascus may also indicate more than one place of Syrian lusterware production before the mid-thirteenth century. Watson seems to eschew the technique of petrography as an analytical tool, and relies on more traditional tools, such as epigraphy and stylistic analysis, for the attribution of the ceramics in the al-Sabah collection to a school or period.

One of the most interesting contributions to Ceramics from Islamic Lands concerns the restoration and faking of Islamic ceramics. Written by Kirsty Norman, a conservator who has worked on much of the al-Sabah collection, this essay explains and illustrates how suspicions were raised concerning several seemingly complete pieces in the collection. Norman and her colleagues dismantled these pieces and discovered not only extensive overpainting but also ingenious techniques of combining fragments from unrelated pieces to produce apparently whole objects. The discussion of what to keep and how to maintain the integrity of the authentic part of ceramic bowls and dishes provides instructive insights into the ethical and practical role of ceramics conservators. Also, the illustrations of dismantled pieces demonstrate why one must approach early and medieval Islamic ceramics in the marketplace with a measure of skepticism.

The catalogue proper is organized according to types of wares, such as unglazed wares, Iranian lusterware, or Ottoman pottery. Entries include ample references to related material and mentions of recent opinions or findings. Both these sections and the introductory chapters suffer from omissions that seem deliberate and pointed or at times may have more to do with an unawareness of comparative material or relevant publications. In the first category, Watson, who was Keeper of Ceramics and Glass at the Victoria and Albert Museum for many years, fails to mention in the introductory chapters Yolande Crowe’s extensive work on Safavid ceramics, despite her having recently published a catalogue of the 530 Safavid blue-and-white pieces in the Victoria and Albert Museum (Persia and China: Safavid Blue and White Ceramics in the Victoria and Albert Museum, 1501–1738, London: Thames and Hudson, 2002). Likewise, in his discussion of sphero-conical vessels (128–132), Watson does not cite an article on the subject by Maria Vittoria Fontana in which she illustrates an Italian sculpture in the Victoria and Albert Museum of an angel holding one of these vessels as if the angel is smelling a precious substance, presumably attar, wafting from its spout (Islàm, storia e civiltà, 34, Anno X, no. 1 [January–March 1991]: 8–13). In the latter category, while Watson notes a Persian imitation of a type of Samarra inscribed ware (cat. D.11) in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, he fails to mention a closely related piece in the Brooklyn Museum. In fact, Watson’s familiarity with British and European collections far outweighs his knowledge of collections in the United States. This is a shame since the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Yale University Art Gallery, the Smart Museum at the University of Chicago, to name only a few, have either major archaeological collections or important pieces donated in the first half of the twentieth century. One other minor criticism concerns the careless copyediting, which undermines the reader’s confidence in the types of information she or he cannot deduce, such as measurements.

While the quality of information in the catalogue and introductory chapters is quite high, one senses a falling off of interest in the discussion of later Iranian wares and the lone Indian piece. Given the number of extant pieces, dated pieces, and the overwhelming influence of Chinese wares on Iranian blue and white, Watson could have been more precise in his dating and discussion of prototypes. Also, the question of production sites is under scrutiny by scholars working in the field of Safavid studies, and could have been addressed more forcefully, especially since the al-Sabah collection contains a good range of material of this period. On the other hand, Watson’s discussion of Mongol wares formerly called “Sultanabad” is a refreshing new look at material with interesting links to Egyptian and Syrian wares of the same period.

The color reproductions and inclusion of profiles of many pieces are very useful, as are the illustrations of stamps, shards, and unglazed neck filters. Also, Watson has never shied away from making provocative statements about Islamic ceramics that both invite the reader to think in new ways about this material and enliven the field. The excellence and breadth of the al-Sabah Collection is a tribute to the energy and taste of Sheikh Nassar and Sheikha Hussa al-Sabah as much as a demonstration of what is possible with ample means and good curatorial support. Although purists may complain at the number of pieces that have come from Afghanistan since 1970, at least their provenance is given and they are published for all to see. Even if a catalogue of a single collection can never cover all the types of ceramics that are known to have been produced between the seventh and eighteenth centuries, this volume does better than most to introduce the many faces of Islamic ceramics and to engage the reader in the types of discussions that will further a knowledge of the field.